The incident, reported shortly before 11 a.m. by another surfer who was in the area, occurred some 500 yards north of Ocean Beach county park, said sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Williams.

The victim, who was bitten in the upper torso area, was identified late Tuesday afternoon as Francisco Javier Solorio Jr., Williams said.

“A friend, who was also surfing and witnessed the shark attack, swam over to assist the victim, pulling him out of the ocean and onto the beach,” Williams said. “The victim’s friend started first-aid procedures while another surfer called 911.

Vandenberg Fire Department personnel were the first to reach the scene, and took over the first-aid efforts, Williams said, but Solorio eventually was declared dead by paramedics.

The type of shark involved and other details remained under investigation, Williams said.

Surf Beach was closed while authorities investigated the death, but sheriff’s Lt. Erik Rainy said he expected the beach to reopen as early as Wednesday.

A small memorial has been built at Surf Beach near Lompoc in honor of Lucas Ransom, who was killed there two years ago by a great white shark. A surfer died at Surf Beach Tuesday in what officials say was a shark attack. (Gina Potthoff / Noozhawk photo)

On Oct. 22, 2010, Lucas Ransom, 19, of Romoland in Riverside County, was boogie boarding with a friend about 100 yards from shore when a shark pulled him under the water. Friends and other witnesses rushed him to the beach, but he suffered a massive wound to his left leg and died of his injuries at the scene.

That death was Santa Barbara County’s first mainland fatal shark attack.

Based on the bite marks and bite pattern on Ransom’s leg and boogie board, California Department of Fish & Game officials determined that the shark was a great white estimated to be 14 to 16 feet in length. Photographs of the junior chemical engineering student’s boogie board showed a bite measuring about 13 inches wide at the largest part.

Great whites are suspected to have been involved in two other local incidents: A shark bit a man’s surfboard at Surf Beach in 2008, and a diver was fatally attacked off the coast of San Miguel Island in 1994.

“We’ve had shark sightings up and down the beaches,” Rainy said of this year’s countywide increase. “I think it’s pretty well known locally. I would always caution anybody that’s going to go out in the ocean.”

Welcome to Noozhawk Asks, a new feature in which you ask the questions, you help decide what Noozhawk investigates, and you work with us to find the answers.

Here’s how it works: You share your questions with us in the nearby box. In some cases, we may work with you to find the answers. In others, we may ask you to vote on your top choices to help us narrow the scope. And we’ll be regularly asking you for your feedback on a specific issue or topic.

We also expect to work together with the reader who asked the winning questions to find the answer together. Noozhawk’s objective is to come at questions from a place of curiosity and openness, and we believe a transparent collaboration is the key to achieve it.

The results of our investigation will be published here in this Noozhawk Asks section. Once or twice a month, we plan to do a review of what was asked and answered.

Support Noozhawk Today

You are an important ally in our mission to deliver clear, objective, high-quality professional news reporting for Santa Barbara, Goleta and the rest of Santa Barbara County. Join the Hawks Club today to help keep Noozhawk soaring.

We offer four membership levels: $5 a month, $10 a month, $25 a month or $1 a week. Payments can be made through PayPal below, or click here for information on recurring credit-card payments.